As Colorado Mesa University continues this fall’s athletic season, certain teams are starting to make their case for the best team on campus.
One specific team to always keep your eye on is the men’s soccer team. This is a team filled with well-rounded, selfless individuals who just love to play the game. The Mavericks have accumulated an impressive 6-1-2 record over the past month while also finding a way to remain undefeated in the RMAC.
After suffering their first loss of the season early in their schedule, the men’s soccer has not let off the gas trying to get back to the top 25. The teamwork on display by this squad is undeniable, and it shows with a total of 14 goals on the season, and 11 of those have been assisted.
CMU’s bench is also just as important as their starters. The bench itself his home to the Mavericks leading scorer, Alec Fronapfel. He is tied for first in points on the team with six so far, and he plays with incredible pace.
Another main reason for the Maverick’s success is their huge improvements made on the defensive end of the ball. Athletes such as Peter Vandam and Matt Rhoads have been intrusively commanding in the defensive zone.
Their protective efforts shown by the Mavericks have been impressive. They have done more than step-up to the occasion, but they have seemed to make it the new team agenda.
The expectations for Men’s Soccer this year are high especially with the hype surrounding the Niger native, Lawan Abary.
Abary was the team’s leading scorer last season and was almost guaranteed to claim the top spot again this year. So far, he’s off to a slow start with only two goals on the season. Although frustrating, this has created other opportunities for different Mavericks on the team to score.
With the second-half stretch of the season coming closer, the Mavericks do still have some things they need to work on. If you compare this year’s team to last year’s you notice one major thing. The lack of scoring. Last year’s Mavericks had a total of 27 goals scored at this exact point in the season last year. If you take a look at the production of this year’s team you notice that it’s significantly lower.
Going into the season, most thought that with the many weapons the Mavericks offense has in their arsenal, scoring wouldn’t be an issue. More were worried about the Mavericks defensive instability which has proven to be more than sufficient when they are called upon.
None the less, the Mavericks are still a very successful team so far this year. If not, the most when comparing them to others. Their success rate is unmatched by any other team here on campus.
The Mavericks will continue their success throughout the rest of the season with the help of their strong defense.